1. Brandin Cooks, WR
The Cowboys need to get more explosive at wide receiver this offseason. Entering his age-32 season, Cooks obviously does not fit that bill.
While Dallas didn't trade for Cooks until he was 31, Cowboys fans probably expected a little more from the former first-round pick when he was acquired from Houston two years ago. For someone who couldn't help but post 1,000 yards a season regardless of his team and quarterback, Cooks failed to eclipse 1,000 yards combined in two seasons with Dallas.
In fairness, a knee infection cost Cooks a chunk of the 2024 season. However, he played 16 games last year and only finished with 657 receiving yards. Granted, he caught eight touchdowns and CeeDee Lamb dominated the target share, but less than 700 yards is far from the standard Cooks set for himself in his career.
The front office needs to upgrade the WR2 and WR3 spots this offseason. The presence of Jalen Tolbert and Jonathan Mingo (sigh) will make that difficult, but drafting a wideout with one of their first three picks has to be the play assuming the Joneses don't want to spend on the position in free agency.
With all of that said, the Cooks trade is something Dallas needs to do more often. Cheap, low-risk moves for established veterans is exactly how you want to round out a playoff-caliber roster. It didn't translate to any success in January, but that was an all-around organizational failure.
We'll be rooting for Cooks in 2025 as long as he doesn't land in the NFC East.